Happy New Year
by SickJester
Summary: A party at the Katsuragi residence starts off boringly for the third child, but he invites his own guest who makes a large impact. Please read and review. SHORT ONE SHOT ONLY.


Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion…

This is a little late, but it'll do fine for it's purpose. This is rated PG for mild language. 

This takes place before the 16th angel on New Years Eve. It's in Misato's apartment and starts at 9 PM. Kaji, Ritsuko, Misato, Asuka, Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke are already there. 

Story Title: A happy New Year

Author: Mosher-24

*~*~*~*~*

The apartment was normally quiet. The dim light from the street lamps outside the windows was filtering through half pulled blinds. The room seemed to have the yellowish tint to it that was characteristic of all street lamps in Tokyo-3. 

In the front room the lights were dimmed. No one but Shinji was in the room and he was sitting on the leather love seat, which had been a new addition after Misato was promoted to Major. It was black and was just as shiny as when it was first moved in, thanks to Shinji's anal-retentive cleanliness. 

The TV was a twenty-five inch screen placed inside a teak entertainment center against a wall opposite the love seat. Next to the love seat was a davenport with silk sheets hung over it. Shinji had added a lot to the decor. 

Several pictures of Asuka, Misato, and Pen-Pen lined the top of the entertainment center and lamp stand in between the couch and love seat. Shinji rarely let people take photos of him, and when the rare occasion arose, he'd keep them for himself. 

There was a glass coffee table between the TV and couch, leaving about two feet of leg space. On the coffee table were various magazines including 'Home and Garden', to 'Revolver,' at Asuka's insistence.

Next to the TV, in another slot on the entertainment center was a stereo, from which was playing a CD of Misato's from 1995 entitled, "Screaming Headless Torsos," who were a blend of funk, jazz, blues, and rock. 

Shinji's mood reflected the dim lighting of the room. He was feeling down, not unlike his usual depressive behavior. He was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt, finally getting a break from his usual school uniform, but that didn't improve his morale much.

Asuka's distinct, rich laugh could be heard ringing from the kitchen, were everyone else was gathered. Toji's string of insults followed, obviously because of some injury to his pride that Asuka had inflicted, making him bleed out his ego slowly.

Kensuke's camera made clicking noises, which were not unusual since it was his new toy. The sound of a beer can opening punctuated the overall happy, except in Shinji's case, demeanor of the apartment. 

The third child stood up and retreated to his room once again. Inside, it was the controlled quietness and calming atmosphere he had come to love. His cello was sitting in the corner with its bow, having been played not even half an hour before. The bed was freshly made with white sheets. His desk was spotless, a bottle of pens and pencils the only thing left on the surface and not in a drawer. 

Shinji pulled out his cell phone, the black shell and blue screen reading "NERV" all too familiar. 

His fingers hunted down the numbers on the pad and pressed talk. With the cell phone to his ear, he could hear it ring three times before someone answered.

"Ayanami," Rei said quietly and shortly. Her voice calmed him, but at the same time sent shivers down his spine, as if she could speak directly to his very soul. 

"H-Hi. This is Shinji," the third replied, already hating that he was beginning to get nervous. Just the effort of talking without stuttering caused him to sweat.

"Ikari? Yes?" Rei answered, still speaking in her monotonous voice that had become so familiar to anyone associated with NERV.

"Well, we're having a New Years Eve party… and I was kinda wondering… if you'd come? M-maybe?" he asked, not able to keep himself from closing his eyes and fearing she would reject him.

"What is that?" Rei asked simply.

"Huh? It's just a part we're having for New Years. There's a few people over already, but… I just wanted to know if you'd come," Shinji said, already feeling her answer before she actually refused.

"You wish me to come?" Rei asked, still quite bland, but not as empty sounding.

"Y-yes. Yes I do," Shinji replied, shakily at first, then firmly. 

There was a silence, not completely awkward, but not necessarily comfortable either. Shinji closed his eyes and crossed his fingers behind his back. He wasn't sure why he cared so much, but he needed acceptance almost as much as he needed air. Rei's acceptance just happened to be a more coveted kind, though Shinji could never tell why.

From the first day he saw Rei, standing on those lonely, evacuated streets of Tokyo-3, then bandaged up, completely broken, yet still giving her all for the Commander. Shinji had watched her grow apart from the Commander, however, due to some things that Gendo had chosen for the children. Shinji didn't want to worry about that, though. All he knew was that Rei fascinated him. She was mysterious, withdrawn; yet with a presence that even Asuka couldn't match. 

"Fine, if you wish it, I shall be there in twenty minutes," Rei said finally, after a few minutes of lapsed silence, from which Shinji brought himself out of his thought process. 

"R-really? That's great! We're at Misato's apartment. Do you know where that is?" Shinji asked excitedly, elated that somehow he had gotten Rei to come to a social gathering, though he didn't know if she knew that's what it was or not. 

"Yes, I know where Major Katsuragi's residence is. I will be there in twenty minutes. Good bye Ikari," Rei said. She hung up without another word and left Shinji with nothing but a buzz on the line.

"See you soon," he said to the nothingness and hung up. Overall, the phone call had only lasted five minutes, though it had seemed like an eternity. He set the phone down on his desk and left his room. 

The group of happy partiers was now in the room Shinji had left only just over five minutes prior. 

"Hey buddy! Where ya been?" Toji asked, tackling Shinji to the ground in the hall. They both laughed for a while before getting up and walking out to the front room. Misato was sitting by Kaji and Ritsuko, all three had beers in their hands, though Kaji and Ritsuko only took sips, while Misato seemed to down it in two gulps.

Kensuke was changing memory chips on his digital camera and Asuka and Hikari were playing video games. Shinji couldn't see which game, because Toji had somehow decided Shinji was his opponent in a wrestling match. Shinji tried his best, but despite his valiant efforts ending up begging for mercy as Toji bent his knee in a way it should never be bent.

~~** 

Rei stared in the mirror. A boy that she didn't even call by his first name somehow brought something she almost never did to the surface. The first child was only clad in her underwear and bra, but she had two pairs of clothes out, though she did not quite understand why. 

On the one hand, she could just wear her usual school uniform and be just fine, no one would notice or care. Rei wasn't sure whether she liked it or not, but it always made things easier for her.

On the other hand she had a long black skirt, about the same length as the school uniformed skirts, and a black blouse with see-through areas about the midsection and shoulders to her elbows. 

The outfit was given to her by Major Katsuragi as a pep to getting her to attend a school semi-formal dance, but it was a failed experiment. Rei never left NERV to even go home, much less attend a dance she wouldn't have enjoyed.

The blue haired girl wasn't sure if she would enjoy the party at the Major's house, but she also was not sure if she cared. Something within Shinji's voice had intrigued her, as well as the idea of what would be happening. 

Quite the contrary to what most people though of Rei, she had exceptional hearing. There were several instances at school were she had picked up details from other conversations about what went on at the Katsuragi parties. The prospect of good food, humorous talk, music, and laughter made Rei want so much to be a part of it, though she could not see herself doing it.

Rei wasn't anti-social, though it came off like that. She didn't know how to interact with anyone but Shinji. Previously she had been able to interact with Gendo Ikari, but he had done some things within NERV to loose her respect. 

Shinji seemed the only person open enough to want to talk to her and understand her, though she didn't know how to return the favor. On several occasions she had observed and listened to him and his deepest worries. 

She knew that he wanted her to do the same, but the thing was that she was beyond worrying. Earthly things did not much matter to her; nothing tangible had ever proved worth her time. Rei never worried about people accepting her, or whether Asuka was yelling at her, or even if her synch ratio with 00 was down.

Those things were never of greatest importance, because she knew and understood that it did not really affect her. It was only the feelings and emotions that she had been raised to forget and block.

But when Shinji tried so hard to extend his hand to her something stirred inside her that she couldn't put her finger on. It disturbed her beyond measure, while at the same time comforted her every nerve. It sent a cool calmness through her veins while it burnt her skin to a temperature she could only achieve while being sick.

Finally, Rei chose the nice black outfit and slipped it on and made sure it was acceptable. Rei had no make-up of her own. She had never needed it before. All she could do was fix her hair a bit and look at herself. She didn't find herself attractive, though anyone else would have. 

Looking at her reflection, she felt something was missing. She realized what it was as she looked at her neck, which was bare down to her collarbone. With delicate hands she reached deep into her closet to retrieve a necklace she hadn't used since she was a little girl.

As the dusty lid came off the box, the necklace seemed to gleam with it's own light, though it was probably the moonlight kissing it through her only open window. 

It was sterling silver set in a thin Celtic weave with small to large diamonds set into the intimate and intricate curves. The necklace had an endless meaning to her, though it passed her comprehensible thought. She felt that it meant a lot to her more than she thought about it.

When it was around her neck, she nodded in acceptance and stood to leave, still having ten minutes to get to the Katsuragi's residence. 

~~**

After Shinji had wrestled Toji to his hearts content, the two sat and watched as now Kensuke, Hikari, Kaji, Asuka, and Misato engaged in a tournament on Tekken 4. They were enjoying themselves thoroughly, making noise, laughing, talking, insulting and fighting over control of a controller.      

Ritsuko watched with a slight smile on her face, not being into video games herself.

"So, Shin-man, how ya been? You seemed kinda bummed earlier and you went to your room and acted all depressed and stuff. You okay?" Toji asked quietly as the others carried on.

"Well… I kinda was, but it's okay now," Shinji assured his friend, speaking in an equally quiet tone. They were sitting on the couch, everyone else being on the floor except for Ritsuko who was on the love seat.

"What made you cheer up?" Toji asked, looking at the screen long enough to see Asuka be beaten by Kensuke, who was winning his fifth straight match in a row. It didn't surprise Suzihara; Kensuke always played video games when he wasn't video taping things.

Shinji smiled for a moment, in his own world, thinking about what exactly cheered him up. Toji was afraid Shinji hadn't been listening when Shinji replied, quieter than ever before.

"Ayanami is coming over," Shinji said. Toji stared at him for a moment before his eyes got wide with understanding.

"She's coming over here?!" he said not so quietly. Shinji shushed him, but no one seemed to notice save Ritsuko, who just gave them a glance then looked back at the group of people playing video games. 

"That's why you cheered up? Does Shinji have something he's hiding from us?" Toji asked teasingly, poking Shinji in the side. Shinji turned bright red and grinned a bit. Both boys laughed a bit before Shinji got up to go get a soda from the kitchen.

"You want one?" Shinji asked his friend.

"No thanks man, had two already," Toji replied, patting his stomach.

The kitchen was simple and small. It had two walls with cupboards for spices, wraps, seasonings, plates, and glasses. The silverware was in a drawer under the sink, which was porcelain. The refrigerator was white and placed against the only adjacent wall without cupboards. 

The floor was bluish tile against white walls and the oak cupboards. A black stove and dishwasher were in the northernmost corner, already getting prepared for cooking, which was to be Shinji's job. 

The third reached into the fridge and felt the refreshing cool on his face as he looked into its shelves. There was frozen meat for hamburgers and steak, lettuce, bread, beer, soda, and countless lunchmeats and fruits. Shinji just grabbed a 7 up soda and started to walk back to the front room. 

A knock to his left made him jump. He was still in the hallway with the door and reached to open it with his free hand. 

"Hello, hello, come in…" Shinji trailed off as he looked at the person who stood there. Hit pop dropped from his hands. It was Rei.

She looked absolutely gorgeous with her black blouse, which had a see-through midsection that showed off her washboard stomach and a section that showed her slender arms. Her skirt covered down to her knee, showing off the rest of her flawless legs. She had black shoes on to match.

But what caught Shinji's eye the most out of all of it was her face. The necklace she was wearing, which was gorgeous all on it's own, lit up her crimson eyes and made them sparkle as if a fire was kindling inside. Her hair didn't seem quite as shaggy and her skin, although pale, glowed too.

Rei seemed surrounded by an aura, which caught Shinji's breath in his chest had him forcing himself to inhale, however hard it was. 

"What's wrong Ikari?" Rei asked, her voice incredibly soft and hard to hear. If Shinji hadn't zoned out all the noise in the front room when he saw her, he wouldn't have been able to tell she had spoken.

"Nothing… Rei… I mean… Ayanami. You look… beautiful," Shinji said before he could stop himself. His cheeks burned bright red and he looked to the floor in submission, though he couldn't keep himself to it for he had to look back up at Rei.

"Shinji? Who was at the door?" Misato asked, turning the corner and walking into the hallway. She stopped too, staring at Rei.

"Have I… done something wrong, Major?" Rei asked Misato softly, her monotonous voice hiding the nervousness she felt for fear that she had dressed inappropriately. 

"No! No! Not at all… Rei, you look fantastic!" Misato said, a slight slur in her voice from the six beers she had downed already. 

Rei kept up the calm look, but didn't know quite what to do at the Major's words, so she did what she thought best.  
  


"Thank you Major," she said, feeling it was good to just say as little as possible, since she knew nothing of these matters.

But something stirred inside her when Shinji told her that she looked beautiful. Something in his eyes and the way he looked at her made her knees get weak and wobbly. She had no idea that Shinji had almost asphyxiated because she had taken his breath away.

"Come in Rei. We'll be having dinner in about an hour and then we'll count down till New Year!" Misato said cheerfully, grabbing another Yebisu. She walked back into the front room and amid the ruckus; Shinji could hear her telling the group about Rei's appearance. 

"I need to make dinner, you can go out there and hang out with them if you want," Shinji said sheepishly, pointing out the hall and into the front room. Rei stepped inside and shut the door behind her, but did not make her way to the front room.

"No, that is okay Ikari. I wish to watch and help if needed," she said calmly. Her eyes met Shinji's for a second and in that brief moment, they lost each other in the ocean of endless deep, but the loud whine of Asuka brought them out of it.

The redhead was whining about 'wondergirl' being there, but that didn't seem to faze Rei. Shinji went into the kitchen and turned on the light. The brightness made Shinji close his eyes for a few seconds before he could reopen them, but he got to work immediately. 

Rei watched Shinji cook up hamburgers, veggie burgers, French fries, potato salad, sweet potatoes, chicken salad, tuna salad, banana nut muffins, smoothies, roast beef, chef salad, and vegetarian hotdogs.

It took Shinji almost the full hour to prepare it all, even though some of it was pre-made. After it all was set at a very large table that Kaji had brought in, Shinji grabbed some potato chips and salsa. 

Shinji chose a spot at the table in the exact middle leaving a spot to his right and left, two at the ends of the table, and three on the other side. Asuka and Toji sat on either side of Shinji and Kaji and Misato took the ends of the table. Kensuke sat next to Hikari, leaving an open seat to his right. 

"I wish to sit by Ikari, please," Rei said softly behind Asuka, who was grabbing food like a pig. She stopped and looked at Rei with a kind of amazed hatred. Shinji wasn't sure why, but it was making him angry just watching her look at Rei that way.

"Why? I'm sitting here, sit over there," Asuka said. Rei blinked and looked at the other side of the table, then back to Asuka. Everyone was watching apprehensively, not wanting to make Asuka blow up, not wanting to alienate Rei more than she no doubt already felt.

"Ikari invited me and I thought I ought to sit by him, since I am his guest, is that not right?" Rei asked blandly, a blank stare on her face.

"First of all, his name is Shinji, not Ikari! And second of all, you can forget your manners, this is Misato's place," Asuka snapped. 

"Hey!" Misato said, resentment over Asuka's joke overtaking the humor. Asuka stared back at Rei with a condescending glare as Rei innocently stared blankly at her. 

"I'll move!" Toji said, wanting to break the stalemate and not have it end up in a fight. He got up and moved next to Kensuke, who grinned when Hikari squeaked. They all knew that Hikari had a crush on Toji. Well, all of them but Toji did, that is.

Rei took Toji's vacant seat and Asuka glared at her. Rei didn't seem to notice as she herself grabbed for her food. Potato salad, chef salad, and a banana smoothie ended up as her final meal.

Shinji sighed and saw Misato do the same when the conflict was resolved. A large tension was lifted after that. Shinji and the rest loaded up their plates and began eating, a lot of side conversations going on. 

Hikari and Asuka were chatting about how dull the boys were, except for Kaji, who they emphasized on, but he was playing footsy with a buzzed Major Misato and was giggling too much to hear the two teen girls.

Toji and Kensuke were engaged in a serious conversation about Robotech, which was a heated discussion about why Minmei was such a bitch. 

Rei ate quietly, as did Shinji, but he stole glances at her as much as he could. She could sense him gazing, so she'd gaze back sometimes, locking eyes with him. He always ended up looking away, though, and going back to eating.

"Well, I just don't see why we can't party all the time!" Asuka said with a grin. Misato laughed and yelled a "Yea!" which turned out to be more like, "Blaertawg" since she was now plastered after over fifteen beers. 

Kaji was smiling brightly, not near drunk and Ritsuko had disappeared. 

"Where'd the good doctor go?" Kaji asked Misato.

"Shhheee went to visit a friend," Misato replied, referring to the Commander. It was common knowledge about the NERV higher-ups that Ritsuko and Gendo were sexually involved. 

As the dinner wound down and slowly came to an end, it was eleven forty. Everyone save Shinji and Rei cleaned up the table and then made their way to the front room to watch the countdown on TV and wait for the fireworks. 

Shinji sat down on the couch, already getting tired. He yawned and closed his eyes and when he opened them, Rei was sitting next to him. She still looked beautiful, completely unchanged and angelic. 

Asuka seemed somewhat flustered by this and grabbed Shinji by the hand. 

"Come on you idiot! Let's dance!" Asuka said, getting him to his feet. A slow Led Zeppelin tune was playing in the background, from the stereo that no body noticed. Shinji sighed and gave in and the rest of the group, save Rei, laughed and cat called at the two slow dancing.

"Now sit back down you lug," Asuka said and pushed Shinji back into his spot and slightly on top of Rei. Shinji fell face first into Rei's lap and stood there for a moment with the rest of the group staring, completely silent at him.

He pulled his face from the soft spot at once and was as red as a ripe tomato. The group cracked up with laughter and soon Toji was in tears he was laughing so hard. After ten minutes of laughing, the group quieted down to watch the final countdown.

Shinji sat down next to Rei again, still red and completely nervous. Rei never seemed to find him falling face first into her lap humorous. No, she took it quite seriously and quite seriously wanted him to do it again, though she knew it was not appropriate from the reactions of the others. 

The TV showed a large counter going backwards from five to zero and when it reached zero, the whole room except for Rei cheered, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

People hugged each other and laughed and carried on for another hour before Misato passed out on the couch. Asuka was yawning and soon found herself and Hikari on the floor sleeping.

All three women looked serene and peaceful, not a care in the world or stress wrinkle in sight. Shinji smiled as he overlooked them.

"Well kiddo, I must be going," Kaji said, rubbing Shinji's hair. 

"Alright, have a safe trip home," Shinji said to him. He nodded and walked out the door. Shinji knew that Kaji was not a big drinker and probably only had a total of one beer the whole night, meaning he would have no DWI's tonight.

Toji and Kensuke were falling asleep on the floor next to Asuka and Hikari.

After another twenty minutes everyone but Shinji and Rei were sleeping soundly. Shinji smiled at them and went out to the balcony, which had a beautiful view of the moon. Rei walked next to him and looked up at the moon too.

Shinji stole another glance at her and felt his breath give again. She was glowing again, this time with a very strong aura, a subtle yet powerful glow that just radiated beauty. The third found himself staring at her in amazement.

"What is wrong Ikari?" Rei asked, looking over to see Shinji staring again. It made her tingle to see his eyes that soft.

"Nothing… You… Y-you look so beautiful," he said quickly. Rei understood every word of it though without having to re-think about it, though it had to be fast enough that all the words were mated into one.

"Do you really think so? I tried to look nice for tonight," Rei said, looking back to the sky.

"And you succeeded with flying colors… Why'd you try to look nice though?" Shinji asked, finally voicing the question that was eating at his insides. 

Rei always dressed in the same uniform unless she was going to the EVA cages, then she'd be in her plug suit. It seemed unlike Rei to finally dress up for something that she didn't even like.

"I wanted to look nice for you," she said softly, not aware of the reddening blush on his cheeks. He looked at the floor, then back up to her, the breeze now gently blowing her hair and features, like a soft lover's caress.

"Call me Shinji," the third child told her, looking into her eyes. She nodded and found herself looking away, not able to look any longer for fear that she would loose control of her emotions.

"Call me Rei, then. Shinji," Rei said with some difficulty, so used to speaking formally. Now that he could refer to her with her first name, he felt much more comfortable. Like something had been lifted off of him that was keeping him from sleeping. 

The stars were shining over the glow of Tokyo-3, the breeze ever so light. Cars going past bellow were few and night birds calls could be heard if one were quiet enough to listen to the call of nature. 

Shinji's eyes drooped and he forced them back open. He looked at Rei, who was looking at him, not tired at all.

Without thought, without anything but instinct and emotion, the two kissed. They had not been close, but they closed the gap to press their lips together.

It was deep, meaningful, and only ten seconds long. They looked at each other afterwards for a long time, staring into each other' eyes. 

'Damn…' Shinji thought. He never would have seen that, but now that it had happened, he was happy.

Shinji sat down on a chair and looked up a Rei. Not a word was uttered between them, but they both knew that things were going to change drastically in both their lives. 

"Shinji… I do not know what I am feeling, but… Shinji?" Rei said softly, looking behind her. Shinji was snoring in the chair; sound asleep after a long day. She smiled softly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Shinji… I do not know what I feel for you, but we will find out another day… perhaps tomorrow… for now, good night," 

Author's Notes: Hoped you liked it. Happy New Year… a little late. Lol. Anyway, it's 6 AM and I've been writing this for five hours. Good night.


End file.
